Cultural Differences and Stress

This week in class we talked about how cultural differences effect families. On Friday we talked about how immigration effects families as well. We talked about how families who immigrate are usually closer together as a family, but some in some families roles within the family are altered as a result of immigration and this can lead to problems. We talked about how usually the father will immigrate first and try to save money to bring the rest of his family to him. While he is gone the family must compensate for his absence and they become closer together, when the whole family is reunited they have a hard time going back to "the way things used to be", or the father has a hard time fitting back in. We also talked about how any kind of stress felt by any family member will effect a family. This effect can be positive or negative depending on how the family reacts to and handles the stress. So the take home message for me was to find positive ways to handle my stress so I do not effect my family in a negative way.